Has Your Brother Taught You Anything About Beauty?

It's conventional wisdom that boys are adorably clueless when it comes to makeup, but a friend of mine thinks otherwise. Her evidence? Three older brothers. It's not that they taught her the intricacies of a smoky eye or gave her that first manicure. Instead, she learned what they truly thought about makeup.

"When I was a little girl, I would always hear my brothers talking about girls," she says. "And they made some observations about beauty that stayed with me." My friend vividly recalls one brother noticing—in memorably unflattering terms—that a girl's face was a different color than her neck. My friend has never forgotten the number one beauty commandment—blend, blend, blend—and that matching your concealer to your skin tone is crucial. Another lesson: "My brother Charlie used to complain about an ex-girlfriend who showed up to class with her eyes caked in 'chunks of glitter.'" This fairy-dusted ex-girlfriend earned the nickname Tinker amongst her brothers. "Now I always stick with sheer shimmery shadows for daytime makeup," she explains. "No large flecks of glitter for me."

What about you: Did your brothers teach you any lasting beauty lessons?